


Cadence

by akiiteru



Series: praestolatio [1]
Category: Free!
Genre: F/F, Fem!Makoto/Fem!Haruka, Friends to Lovers, Mild Sexual Content, Pining, but mostly fluff fluff fluff, but not really, makoharu lesbians are very important to me, makoto overthinks everything, there are mentions of rei and nagisa but they don't actually show up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-11
Updated: 2014-09-11
Packaged: 2018-02-17 00:21:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2290085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akiiteru/pseuds/akiiteru
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Makoto could <i>not</i> fall asleep like this. Not with Haruka so close to her, breathing so softly. Not with Haruka's hand brushing lightly against the side of her thigh.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cadence

**Author's Note:**

> _you say you won’t wait forever on me_   
>  _but i wouldn’t make you wait that long_   
>  _so don’t you get scared, scared of nothing_   
>  _‘cause i’m staying right here_   
>  _don’t be afraid ‘cause i won’t leave you all alone_
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> -Youngblood Hawke, _Forever_
> 
>  
> 
> part one of _praestolatio_
> 
> part two: [trainwreck](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2599832) (sourin)

Haruka was silent as she worked Makoto's hair into a French braid. It was a rainy Friday night, and she was sleeping over at Makoto’s house as she always did during the summer. Her own, short hair was pushed back by a pink headband and festooned with neon barrettes.

"You should get a haircut," she said finally. Makoto’s hair was soft under her fingers.

Makoto shrugged and took a handful of potato chips from the bag beside her on the carpet. "I like it long."

Haruka sighed. The two girls were sitting on the floor of Makoto’s bedroom, with piles of hair accessories and various junk foods surrounding them. The day so far had been as normal as any day they spent together; Haruka came over right before dinner, and spent most of her time playing video games and entertaining Makoto’s younger siblings. She and Makoto had taken a walk by the beach at dusk (without Ren and Ran, much to the kids’ disappointment). 

At that point in the night, the twins were long since asleep, as were Makoto’s parents. The girls decided to pass their time raiding the house’s pantry and hang out in Makoto’s room. It was Makoto’s idea to do each other’s hair, and Haruka went along with it gladly since it didn’t require too much effort on her part, and she wanted an excuse to touch Makoto’s hair (which she found herself to be jealous of at times). But Makoto didn’t need to know that.

Haruka hummed as she snapped an elastic into place at the end of Makoto's braid. "It’ll get in the way when you swim, you know.”

"I have a swim cap! And Nagisa says that it looks cute," Makoto shot back.

Haruka laughed softly. It could barely be heard over the rain pelting against the roof.

“What?” Makoto asked, crossing her arms defensively. She was only partly serious. “You don’t think it’s cute?”

"I never said _that_ ," Haruka muttered, and Makoto felt her face turn red. She picked nervously at the fabric of her light green pajama pants. Haruka’s sincerity was, as always, a bit bewildering to the more easily embarrassed girl.

Haruka handed her a compact mirror, and Makoto checked out Haruka’s handiwork. Her braid was neat, not a hair out of place.

“Where’d you learn to do hair like this?” Makoto asked, still looking at her braid from different angles.

Haruka shrugged. “My grandmother taught me when I was younger. It’s not that hard.”

Makoto was about to argue that yes, it was “that hard” (she could barely put her own hair into a ponytail neatly), but decided against it. After all, Haruka was naturally talented at many things, and couldn’t quite understand where Makoto was coming from a lot of the time.

Suddenly, a loud clap of thunder shook the whole house and made Makoto jump. Without thinking about it, she grabbed Haruka’s shoulder. The dark-haired girl looked startled for a moment. Quickly, though, she recognized the fear in Makoto’s eyes. She tried to smile reassuringly, but her mouth only twitched upwards slightly and she looked away in embarrassment.

“So, how do you think you’ll do in the next swim meet?” Makoto asked, changing the subject hastily to distract herself from the storm outside.

Haruka sighed with a hint of frustration. “Stop worrying, we’ll do fine. We’ve been working hard.”

“Yup,” Makoto agreed. “Rei and Nagisa have really improved.”

“So have you.” Haruka’s comment was barely audible, and a blush creeped across her face.

Makoto laughed it off, even though she felt her heart skip a beat. “Yeah, I guess I-“

“Makoto.” Haruka interrupted her urgently. “Stop erasing your achievements. You can’t put all of your focus into the rest of the team, you have to care about yourself, too.”

“Haru,” Makoto said quietly, surprised by her outburst. Haruka avoided Makoto’s gaze, her face reddening. 

Makoto never realized how much her friend cared about her until times like those, when Haruka said a bit too much and tried to cover it up by acting like it never happened. Makoto always went along with it and didn’t bring it up again, because embarrassing her best friend was at the bottom of her priority list. Despite that, it still made her throat tighten to see Haruka so flustered.

So Makoto ignored Haruka’s blush and tried to hide her own. Instead, she focused on the wind howling outside and the walls creaking like they would fall apart. The thunder had stopped, and the rain had faded from loud drumming to a hushed, repetitive _drip_.

At that point, it was past midnight. There was something peaceful about the late-night lonely feeling, Makoto realized; it was just her and Haruka, undisturbed by anyone else. She had a dull ache in her head from fatigue, but she didn’t mind it very much. Instead she focused on the sound of the rain and the rhythm of her own heartbeat, thrumming in her ears.

Haruka yawned, breaking Makoto’s focus. A lock of her dark hair had gotten free from her headband, and contrasted sharply against the pale smoothness of her forehead. She brushed it away from her face with a frustrated exhale.

Makoto laughed breezily. “Tired?”

Haruka nodded, suppressing another yawn. “Kind of.”

Makoto stood and began to take a mat to sleep on out of her closet, but she was brushed off.

“The bed’s big enough to share,” Haruka commented. She was right; the bed was plenty wide enough for both girls. But it was breaking routine; Haruka always took the bed, and Makoto took the floor. It had been like that for nearly a _decade_ , with no objection from either of them, and Haruka had thrown it out the window.

Makoto blushed at the thought of sleeping so close together, and scolded herself for taking advantage of her friend. However, she didn’t refuse. She began to unravel her braid, and Haruka piled her barrettes on the bedside table. 

They didn’t speak for quite a while. It wasn’t quite awkward, just _odd_ , but it was still enough to put Makoto on edge. Haruka’s words loomed over her like a shadow. How much weight did those words carry? What would be different, now that change was imminent? 

Makoto told herself that she was overthinking it. Could she _really_ know what Haruka meant by what she said? There could be other reasons besides a confession of something deeper.

Maybe she didn’t know Haruka as well as she thought she did.

Makoto shut all of the lights off and slid beneath the covers beside Haruka, who was already lying there silently. At first, she stayed as far from the center of the bed as possible, but it was uncomfortable and eventually she settled in just inches away from Haruka. It was a mistake, she knew it, she _knew_ she was pushing it. Haruka’s breath stuttered, nearly imperceptibly, but it was glaringly obvious to Makoto.

It was immediately apparent that she had no chance of falling asleep. Not with Haruka so close to her, breathing so softly. Not with Haruka’s hand brushing lightly against the side of her thigh.

Makoto feared that Haruka could hear her heart pounding. The rain had stopped and room was silent, suffocatingly so, and her own nervous breaths seemed to drown out Haruka’s calm ones. She rolled over, turning away from Haruka, and clutched the comforter close to her chin. 

A few minutes crept by, and Makoto began to wonder if her room was abnormally hot or if it was just her own body temperature, raised from embarrassment.

She didn’t know why today was different than all of the other times Haruka slept over. Makoto usually didn’t mind it when Haruka’s hand brushed against her, but at that moment it set her skin aflame and made her chest constrict.

She was so afraid of it that she couldn’t stand the silence any longer.

"Are you awake?" Makoto whispered, and she felt Haruka shift slightly. 

After a long silence, she was answered with a muttered "yes" and a more insistent pressure against her thigh. She turned her head and was startled by Haruka's eyes, glinting in the moonlight coming from the window. 

Makoto felt her cheeks flush. "Um... Haru?"

Haruka just kept staring at her, blank-faced. 

They didn’t break eye contact for a while. Their chests rose and fell slowly and in sync, which was strangely intimate and made both girls blush.

Finally, when Makoto started to feel like she couldn’t stand the awkwardness any longer, Haruka reached forward and rested her hand against Makoto’s cheek. 

“You’re blushing,” she said flatly.

Haruka’s hand was cool, in contrast to Makoto’s cheeks. 

“H-Haru? Are you-” 

Makoto’s voice cracked before she could say anything else.

“Why are you embarrassed?” Haruka deadpanned, though there was a hint of tenderness in her eyes.

It seemed that she wasn’t expecting a response. After only a second or two she leaned forward, cupped Makoto’s cheeks in both hands, and pressed their lips together.

Makoto’s eyes widened. All she could see was Haruka’s thick eyelashes and pale skin, and her dark hair plastered against her forehead.

They pulled away far too soon, and couldn’t do anything but stare at each other for another few moments. Haruka looked oddly unfazed by the sudden intimacy between them.

They kissed again. It was clumsy, but Makoto let out a quiet hum of a moan regardless. 

This seemed to encourage Haruka. Her hands made their way down to Makoto's chest and _wow_ , Makoto had _dreamed_ about this. Haruka's touch was soft and hesitant, but Makoto mewled anyway at the light pressure. 

Their lips separated again. Haruka looked at Makoto's face curiously, and thumbed at her nipples through the soft fabric of her shirt.

“Is this okay?” Haruka asked, averting her eyes from Makoto’s wide green ones.

Makoto sighed softly and leaned into Haruka's touch, nodding. Her eyes fluttered closed, and she let the warmth of the room envelop her. She felt comfortable. The stillness was serene rather than overwhelming. 

Haruka’s hand slid down to her waist. A shiver ran up her spine and she felt like she was melting; melting into the bed, melting into Haruka, their body heat combining deliciously so that it was all Makoto could think about.

Her head hit the pillow before she realized she was being tugged gently down. She was pressed up close against Haruka, so close she could feel the other girl’s heartbeat resonating between them, and the softness of Haruka’s breasts against her own. 

Haruka’s voice broke through the fragile silence. 

“Hey.”

Makoto looked at Haruka through half-lidded eyes. “Hm?”

“I like you.”

The statement was so sincere, so blunt, that Makoto had to let it process for a little while. Those words could mean so much, but somehow Makoto knew exactly what Haruka meant. And it made her heart _hurt_ , because she feared what Haruka feared.

She was afraid that something would change, now that they shared the knowledge of their deeper feelings for each other. She was afraid that she wasn’t good enough, and that she would grow apart from Haruka since their expectations for their relationship were higher.

She wanted everything to stay the same. Well, not _everything_ , she would gladly continue with the physical intimacy, but she didn’t feel the need to change their emotional intimacy. She wanted to keep speaking to Haruka in the same way that she did before; straightforward, tender, no pressure to avoid sensitive topics.

She could have said so much. There was a constant stream of words going through her head, but they were in a jumble of heat and emotion and affection, and she could think of only one way to get her feelings across.

“I like you too, Haru.”

And that was all she needed, because she saw the way Haruka’s eyes softened, and she felt the rigidness melt away from Haruka’s shoulders. They were still friends, still just as close as before. The only change was that the unspoken was now spoken for. They held each other tightly, minds racing but not needing to vocalize, because each breath and each thump of their hearts told each other that they were thinking the same things.

**Author's Note:**

> message me on [tumblr](http://akiiteru.tumblr.com/)


End file.
